1913 Tornado - Bemis Park

Black and white photograph (10.5 x 6 cm.) described on reverse as, Bemis Park, with a view of a several damaged houses and strewn debris in Bemis Park and surrounding neighborhood after it had been hit by the tornado that struck Omaha, Nebraska on March 23, 1913.

Few disasters have devastated Omaha as completely as the Easter Tornado of March 23, 1913. The storm descended with terrible force just after Easter services on Sunday evening. The tornado created a path of destruction seven miles long and a quarter mile wide. It killed 140 Omahans and injured 400 others. During the Easter Tornado of 1913 one of the most badly damaged areas was the Bemis Park neighborhood. Palatial mansions were reduced to matchsticks. The Bemis Park neighborhood occupies the area bounded by 33rd, 38th, Cuming, and Hamilton Streets. The first house in the neighborhood was built in 1888. It was in the early 1890s, starting during the term of Omaha Mayor George Bemis, that the park was established. Sources: Moore, Thomas. Bemis Park, Once Wild, Now Lively -- With Kids. Omaha World-Herald, August 5, 1956.